Criminal Cases and Accidents

The materials of the Mariupol Greek Court provide information regarding criminal offenses committed by Greek settlers: what crimes they were most often convicted of, what verdicts were passed, and what punishments were assigned. In the Greek court, all cases were resolved in accordance with the laws of the Russian Empire, but there were also instances where customary law inherited from Crimea was applied.

To study extraordinary events in the daily life of the Greeks, the reports of village overseers to the Greek court, as well as the reports of the court to the Ministry of Police, are especially valuable. For example, as the reports from 1814 show, fires dominated among extraordinary incidents, mostly caused by careless handling of fire.

In the case of unexplained deaths, Greeks invited doctors to determine the cause; the doctors in turn performed autopsies. For instance, in 1814, according to his relatives, the Mariupol townsman Cholpan Mykolaiv Kurkchu, aged 70, “died a sudden death.” For a medical conclusion, the Taganrog city physician Albutsy was invited. After dissecting the body, he stated that “no signs were found that could indicate a dangerous illness or violent death,” and that the townsman died “of old age and the infirmity of his years” [Case 6221-D, folio 25].

 

List of cases: